Authors use social media networking, social media marketing, Internet presence and web content to get free book publicity, editorial contracts and public speaking engagements.
 |
| Samuel E. Washington & Sunny Nash with Sunny's book, Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's |
Your friends will support your literary efforts and tell their friends to invite you to speak to their groups who will tell their friends about you and your book and so on and so on. Sound good? Turn that email address book, organizational membership list and old business card file into a potential list of social media network friends, fans, followers, subscribers and, members.
I'm not claiming to have so many friends, fans, followers, subscribers and, members that I will never have to hustle another book sale. I'm always looking for the next sale. But I have terrific people in my life who have become part of my social media network and have helped me in numerous ways, including showing and telling to market my book. People like Samuel Washington, philanthropist and businessman, who invited me to speak to his group, and Carolyn Smith Watts, who introduced me to Sam, led to book sales, and editorial and production contracts.
I use social media marketing to sell my book, Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's, chosen by the Association of American University Presses for its value in understanding U.S. race relations, allowing me to create a theme. I can write about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, the Woolworth's sit-ins and other topics of the Jim Crow era, as well as current issues and news. Within my social media networks, I form groups and communicate with each group according to the interest they share with me. I market my books, services, products and announce my blogs and articles.
How to Get Free Book Publicity Well-written TextTechnology and SoftwareSocial Media MarketingProper Formatting
Before you buy a cheap new laptop and jump out there into the social media marketing game to claim your free book publicity, you need have a theme However, before you sell one book, you need to know about formatting your writing for standard print submissions, digital and eBooks, and scripts.
I advise my clients who are writing novels, memoirs and short story collections, as well as scripts for filmmakers, and television and Internet productions, to invest in a good writing software. The software will not write the project for you, but it will format what you write. If you need someone to write your project, you should hire a ghostwriter.
Today, web presence and web content through social media networking can help you attract a target audience and start building a plan for social media marketing in the same way personal and professional relationships did in the past, when most authors' careers depended on word-of-mouth for free book publicity and printed promotions and flyers. However, with web-based communications being more widely utilized today, the friendship concept is still in play with social media networks using the term, 'friends.' Web content includes social media, forums, newsletters, Internet press releases, online articles, blogs and other means of Internet communications. These services make advertising more affordable.for video producers and writers of all kinds.
One of the best things about about getting free book publicity using social media networking and marketing is the technology IS free. Be aware, they do sell things and ask your participation in promotional programs, but you are not obligated to purchase them unless you want to. As an author, I find that the free resources are plentiful enough to keep me busy selling. It's up to you, though. Get a decent digital camera and take a picture of your book or a scanner to produce an image to upload to your social media.
Authors depend on the Internet to get free book publicity and advertising for their public speaking engagements. In order to capitalize fully on these free tools, we need to create a web presence by writing web content in the forms of mini blogs, micro blogs, interest groups, forums Internet press releases, online articles and other web copy. Creating a web presence can be as simple as joining a social media network to developing a website or blog. There is a vast amount of virtual real estate in between, including other crowds vying to waste your time and get you to spend your money.
 |
| Sunny Nash on Facebook |
Facebook (FB) is a large social media network around with more than one-half billion users, called 'friends,' a loose use of the term, 'friend,' in my opinion. However, FaceBook is a resources that can be used to get free book publicity. It is an easy platform to use and allows you to create pages for your books.
According to Definitions Online, “Friendship is the cooperative and supportive relationship between people, or animals. In this sense, the term (friend) connotes a relationship, which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, affection, and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis.” According to Wikipedia, “The Roman philosopher Cicero believed that in order to have a true friendship with someone, one must have complete honesty, truth, and trust. He also thought that friends would do things for each other without expectation of repayment.”
Well, I rest my case about the loose use of the term, 'friend,' although Facebook made a wise choice. Without thinking about what it really means to be or to have a friend, people trust the word, friend. which is a dubious designation, in that, names on 'friend' lists represent, in some instances, no more than a collection of virtual acquaintances met over the Internet. But like FaceBook, friendship is free, or a least, it should be if it is truly friendship.
I am not picking on Facebook or those who invented or use it or singling it out for negatives. I use Facebook. I like FaceBook and many other social media networks and I am positive that I have derived measurable value and free book publicity by using them. But like any new toy, the dangers are yet to be discovered and usually those hazards are revealed after someone has been harmed. So, with that in mind, use social media networks with extreme care. Remember, information is not knowledge. Facebook--known by all, including a paltry few folks who don't use it but know enough about it to decline--is a social site allowing people to declare themselves ‘friends’ and to communicate through status postings, messages, updates, links, photographs, links and videos to share all sorts of important and trivial information about news, trends, their thoughts and other sometimes just plain nonsense. I love it!
 |
| Some Social Media Bookmarking & Sharing Buttons |
Facebook and other social media networks are tiny personal blogs that are meant to keep your friends up to date about anything, on which you want them up to date. Those things include what's on your mind; what you are doing; what are you planning to do; where you are going; where are you planning to go? Anything! However, there is debate over the issue of privacy within these sites that are telling you to relax and enjoy. Don't worry about what we know about you and what we intend to do with what we know about you.
Be careful about how personal you get out there on your social media networks. Anyone can see the stuff you share, unless you enable certain privacy settings. And, as you have probably heard or read, once posted, this stuff is out there forever. Now, everybody knows and so will everybody in the future, including parents, children, potential spouses, and future professors and bosses--everybody for all time to come.
Linkedin is the world's largest professional social media network, boasting more than 100 million members and representing more than 200 countries around the world. I like Linkedin because it's not personal. It is a social media site that is meant for professional and company profiles. There is no better way to get free book publicity than this type of format and exposure.
You've heard the stories about how someone didn't get a job they interviewed for because the company checked Facebook and found all those half-naked party pictures. That is not the kind of web presence most authors can really use, unless your name is...well you know who they are and they can't write anyway.
You've heard the stories about how someone didn't get a job they interviewed for because the company checked Facebook and found all those half-naked party pictures. That is not the kind of web presence most authors can really use, unless your name is...well you know who they are and they can't write anyway.
Authors can use Facebook to market books and services, not in a sleazy or hard-sell way, though. Be gentle. The people on your friends' list are real people, not to be treated like your open bank account. 'Friends' won't let you treat them like that. If they think you're attempting to exploit your relationships with them, they will turn you off, remove your posts and may un-friend you.
You know that little button at the bottom of the list of the 'friends' list? There have been occasions in my own life long before Facebook that I could have used a de-friend button on people I felt didn't come through for me when I really needed them. So, approach with caution when asking your social media 'friends' for favors. You don't know most of these people and you don't have any idea what the payback for that favor may entail.
One effective use of Facebook and some other social media networks is video. Most of my friends don't use this option for their own productions. They use it to share videos they found on websites such as YouTube. As an author, you can produce a video book trailer to place on your profile under the video section, excellent for showcasing your book. Learn more about Authors Making Money.
So, do not forget about the video websites and communities like YouTube (my channel) to get free book publicity through social media marketing. A book trailer, a device borrowed from the motion picture industry, can result in sales. I have made several video book trailers of Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's for different websites and uses. Video book trailers, a truly hot advertising tool among authors and publishers. Many authors expose and sell their books through video book trailers if they can find the right hook.
The hook I chose for my book is race relations because of the designation by the Association of American University Presses as a tool for understanding race relations in the United States. My book covers the period of the modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
A big player in the world of social media networking is Twitter, a social and micro-blogging service enabling Twitter users to send and read messages or tweets, text-based posts up to 140 characters displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to the user's subscribers or followers. Known for social messaging and news service, Twitter is also popular among mobile users.
Twitter is a favorite for marketers to get free publicity about products, and a natural solution for authors to market their books on a small marketing budget. Social media marketing is being used by almost anyone with something to sell or money to raise, including politicians, peddlers of purses, popcorn vendors and pornography pushers. They have all found a way of using social media networks to advertise their wares. Utilities like Twitter feed can convert an RSS feed into Twitter updates. This makes it easy to use Twitter as social media marketing. Again, be careful. You don't want to over do it and make your subscribers and followers tired of your message. Keep it fresh.
 |
A Partial List of Bookmarking & Sharing Sites |
Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are three sharing communities and social networking services. The bookmarking and sharing device to the right represents other social networking sites, some with special audiences.
Information seems to be a chief motive for getting you to join the services, which can be useful if used wisely. My philosophy about joining a social network is to stay away if they want to know my home address, where I work, my mother’s maiden name or anything else of a personal nature. Sometimes the price for free book publicity is too high. I have my standards.
There are hundreds of social media networks, In fact, there are so many crowds out there yelling at the tops of their lungs that it is mind-boggling! Pick one or two to start your social media marketing plan. Everybody has a group or is forming a group with something to say or complain about, some interesting, some not so much. In fact, you can start your own group. It's unnecessary to belong to all of them. I try to identify the websites, blogs, forums and groups that apply to my needs as an author because staying active with all of the groups can eat up a great deal of my time, time that I need for writing and promoting my books.
 |
| Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's by Sunny Nash |
I have a marketing plan for my book, Bigmama Didn't Shop At Woolworth's, has been honored by several organizations. If you have a chance to brag a little without really bragging, by all means brag a little on your social media network, but not too much. No one will be angry with you for that. Glad you have something to brag about and wish they did.
My book is listed in the Bibliographic Guide to Black Studies by the Schomburg Center in New York and recommended for Native American collections by the Miami-Dade Public Library System in Florida.
Include at least these types of links on pages where you are directing your social media friends, followers and subscribers:
Include at least these types of links on pages where you are directing your social media friends, followers and subscribers:
- Website featuring your book
- Purchasing page
- Website about you
- Outside website that features you
Finally, have an action in mind that you would like the social media visitor to take when they arrive at your destination. On some of these pages you are directing your target audience to, place ordering information: Buy: Bigmama Didn't Shop at Woolworth's
by Sunny Nash. ~Thank You~
by Sunny Nash. ~Thank You~
Related Articles by Sunny Nash
Press releases for online submission earn authors free book publicity,
name recognition, credibility and public speaking engagements.
Internet press releases help me sell books, services, knowledge
and public speaking events by letting my target audience know who I am,
what I have to sell and what I can do for them.
and public speaking events by letting my target audience know who I am,
what I have to sell and what I can do for them.
| |
© 2011 Sunny Nash
All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteFrom being a mere avenue for data processing and connectivity, it has quickly gained a knack for being socially oriented, creating a multi community rather than just simply being a data transfer protocol.
Social Media marketing Comapny
What a creative way to look at social media. You are right there are so many new tasks we can accomplish using social media and not just authors, anyone who needs to connect. Thank you.
DeleteThanks for sharing your successful experience using the benefits of social in your books.
ReplyDeletesocial media for churches
Please visit again and often. As I learn new applications for social media and bookmarking, I will gladly share them. Thank you so much for your note. Sunny
DeleteThanks for sharing your post and it was superb .I would like to hear more from you in future too.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. I am happy to share what I am learning about social media and bookmarking. And the process is ongoing, believe me, changing as we speak. Thank you again. Sunny
DeleteAmazing how simple it can be to communicate with people and have them understand a certain topic, you made my day.
ReplyDeleteSEO Los Angeles
Thank you. It is great to get your feedback.
DeleteI have been looking to start my very own blog since a long time, in a way your blog inspires me a lot. Would you let me know just how did you get started out with installing a blog site?
ReplyDeleteI started with an interest in a topic I wanted to explore, using my personal experiences. You must choose a blog topic that will continue to interest you or you will not be devoted to it. Blogging is a constant activity. Good luck!
DeleteThis site is great. i visit here evaryday.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Delete